Brush cutters are well known in the art and may usually be divided into two different classes: manually handled brush cutters and self-powered brush cutters.
Manually handled brush cutters, whether they are powered by the user, by an electric motor or by an internal combustion engine are conventionally used for brush cutting small areas.
On the other hand, self-powered brush cutters are usually larger and used in large areas.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,522 issued to Serge Munger on Feb. 13, 1990 and entitled "Hydraulic powered arm of balance cutter device", illustrates a cutter device mounted to the articulated boom of a conventional earth moving machine to thereby yield a self-powered brush cutter.
Munger's self-powered brush cutter has many drawbacks, such as, for example:
the earth moving machine is relatively large and heavy, thereby restricting the use of the brush cutter to large and open spaces; PA1 the use of longs endless tracks makes it difficult to keep an even distance between the brush cutter head and the ground when the earth moving machine moves on uneven ground; PA1 the use of a conventional articulated boom decreases the user's field of view in the vicinity of the cutter head; PA1 the relatively large opening in the blade guards allow cut brush wood to become wrapped around the shaft of the motor, thereby requiring regular cleaning of the cutter head, which reduces efficiency; PA1 the front blade guard is fixedly mounted to the cutter head, preventing cutting action of the front of the blade during forward movement; and PA1 the underside of the blade guards are convex, thereby presenting a larger front area which requires more power to move forward. PA1 a carrier including: PA1 a base element so mounted to the frame as to pivot about a first pivot axis; the base element including a first pivot pin defining a second pivot axis generally perpendicular to the first pivot axis; PA1 a first actuator mounted between the frame and the base element to selectively pivot the base element about the first pivot axis; PA1 a primary arm having a proximate end so mounted to the first pivot pin of the base element as to pivot about the second pivot axis; the primary arm also having a distal end provided with a second pivot pin defining a third pivot axis generally parallel to the second pivot axis; the primary arm being generally tubular; PA1 a second actuator mounted between the base element and the primary arm to selectively pivot the primary arm about the second pivot axis; PA1 a secondary arm having a proximate end so mounted to second pivot pin of the distal end of the primary arm as to pivot about the third pivot axis; the secondary arm also having a distal end; the second arm being generally tubular; PA1 a third actuator mounted between the primary arm and the secondary arm to selectively pivot the secondary arm about the third pivot axis; PA1 a brush cutter head mounting element so mounted to the distal end of the secondary arm as to pivot about a fourth pivot axis; PA1 an angular adjustment mechanism mounted between the base element and the brush cutter head mounting element both to adjust the pivot angle of the brush cutter head mounting element and to maintain this pivot angle; the angular adjustment mechanism including: PA1 a longitudinal frame; PA1 a rotary actuator having a body mounted to the longitudinal frame and a transversal driving shaft; PA1 a relatively thin brush cutter blade mounted to the driving shaft; the relatively cutter blade having a generally circular central portion and at least four peripheral teeth integral with the central portion; PA1 at least two generally flat lateral blade guards so mounted to the longitudinal frame as to exceed the cutter blade; each the at least two blade guards having a brush cutter blade opening including: PA1 a relatively narrow central portion configured and sized to allow the central portion of the cutter blade therethrough; PA1 two relatively wide opposite end portions configured and sized to allow the peripheral teeth of the cutter blade therethrough;